


Book Three: Sun

by circleofchaos



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, adding a few scenes and changing a few details, rewrite of s03, s03 spoiler, since i was slightly dissapointed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:08:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23664403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/circleofchaos/pseuds/circleofchaos
Summary: Season Three, but with more depth to the characters and more screentime for motives and character development.
Relationships: (past) Opeli/Viren (The Dragon Prince), Aaravos/Viren (The Dragon Prince), Amaya/Janai (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Claudia/Kasef (The Dragon Prince), Ethari/Runaan (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 14





	Book Three: Sun

**Author's Note:**

> This will basically be a rewrite of S03, where I alter or add scenes to give characters more depth and more story than they got in the third season. You can disagree if you want but if you think about it, the third season was way weaker than the first two and some characters didn't make sense. That's what I'm gonna change.
> 
> I hope I can keep this at nine chapters (one for every episode) but I'm so sure this is gonna be longer. But enough rambling from my side! Please enjoy the only added scene in S03E01: Sol Regem.

Ever since the Human Kingdoms came to peace which each other, the Katolian prison was remarkably underused.

Of course they were far from being a crimeless country, because in every country there are pubs that house the kind of men, who just love to get into a fight, but Katolis's guards, as well as the common people, did an amazing job at keeping order.

The downside of it, if one could call it so, was that the dungeons (in theory, capable of holding up to fifty people at once) now were empty and as Viren passed by empty cell after empty cell, he realized how alone he would be.

He tried to remember where everything went wrong. In his head, he revisited every step he made ever since Harrow was murdered by the Moonshadow-Assassins, but he couldn't think.

He couldn't think with the way his shackles clattered during every step he made and how the sounds echoed back at him from the cold stone walls.

He couldn't think with the way the guards couldn't decide on whether to grab him like they would any prisoner or be gentle because after all, he is a lord.

He couldn't think with the way everything around him reminded him of what a failure he was; of how this one chance he had at doing something great for humanity was gone now.

Everything he wanted to achieve was making the others see what he saw all along, for all his life. They were in grave danger, a danger that originated in Xadia.

If they wanted to, the elves and dragons wouldn't even need a reason to come marching into the Human Lands. They could and would do it just because they can; because a new dragon majesty decided it was time to get rid of humans and dark magic for good.

Maybe he wasn't the only one who saw the threat, but he certainly was the only one who saw the opportunity to make a difference. In the end, he took that chance. At least he tried to.

They stopped in front of the last cell at the very end of the long, long corridor. Viren watched absently as the guard to his right took the keychain of his belt and opened the cell, the clattering of the keys haunting Viren's mind.

"Lord Viren, would you-?", one of the guards asked but didn't dare to finish the request. But Viren knew what was expected of him; after all, he brought more than one damned soul down here.

He only nodded, before stepping into the empty cell with as much grace as he could muster in his crestfallen state. He didn't turn around when he heard the door fall shut and he didn't turn either when he heard the sound of a key shifting in the lock.

Viren noticed that the guards were waiting for him to say something, for him to dismiss them like he still was their High Mage and not just some traitor, thrown into prison. He turned a little, eyeing them.

He was partly right. The two guards that General Amaya left behind were already halfway out of the dungeons, but the other two were still waiting.

"High Mage," one of them started. "Do you need anything? Can we assist you with something before we leave?"

Viren raised his eyebrow at that, taking a closer look at the one who just spoke. He was rather young, not even a stubble gracing his face. He reminded him a little of his son.

"Kind of you to ask, -?" he started, then furrowing his brows. He was rather good with names, but he didn't keep track of all the guards, no matter how often Soren was talking about them.

"The names' James, sir."

Viren only nodded, turning away a little again.

"Thank you for asking, James, but the thing I need you cannot get a hold of." Then, after a little pause, he added: "You can go now."

He heard the characteristic sound of shifting armor and he figured from it, that James and his silent companion must've left.

Silence.

It fell over his cell, sweet and deafening. Sadly his mind didn't got the memo and just kept on screaming his thoughts back at him and it didn't look like it was about to stop anytime soon.

The first evening, one of General Amaya's guards brought him his meal. She didn't look at him, didn't care much for how wrecked he must look without the disguise of his butterflies, and after she left, Viren wondered if she even saw him.

Maybe he was so pressed in the corner of his cell, that his skin, scarred of the use of dark magic, just became one with the night.

In the middle of the night, the worm crawled out of his ear, down his neck and nestled against his skin in a weak attempt to comfort him. It was a weird feeling, but it was better than nothing in the coldness of the night.

He heard Aaravos's voice now and then, whispering encouraging words to him so he wouldn't lose hope. But when the moon was so high that he illuminated the cell in his white light, both of them grew silent.

Viren closed his eyes, trying to catch a few minutes of sleep, and when he opened them again, the birds were singing and the sun was rising.

This morning, James brought him his breakfast.

When he carefully put it down on the ground, Viren saw how a few berries were slipped next to his bowl, like forbidden fruits.

They weren't the same ones he got for his own prisoner, the moonshadow assassin, but plain human berries. Still, the thought was so kind, that Viren couldn't help but thank the guard.

"Not worth mentioning, High Mage. My mother has a garden and we always have way to many of them anyway."

"You live with your mother?", Viren asked then, tilting his head a little. "Don't the guards live in the barracks?"

"I do, most of the times. But on my free days, I do spent time with her."

"How kind of you. She must appreciate it a lot."

"She wanted me to become a farmer, like her and my father, so I could spent all my time with them, but a guard was always more of my calling."

James raised his head a little, looking at him with a kind smile. In the light of the day, Viren could make out freckles on his face. They were sprankled over his pale skin like literal kisses from the sun. He reminded him a little of the interpretor.

The Interpretor.

_General Amaya's pet commander._

"James," Viren leaned forward immediately, an urgent look on his face. The young man shot up, his posture suddenly as stiff and on guard as they trained him to be.

"Yes, sir?" he asked, a little panic reflecting on the face. If Viren weren't focused on the commander, he'd tell the boy that he didn't do something wrong. James seemed to fear that very thing.

"Run to priestess Opeli and tell her I need to talk with her. It's urgent."

"The priestess?" James asked with a slightly unnerved look on his face. "Wasn't she the one who put you down here?"

"Yes, but that does not matter right now. Tell her, that I _need_ to speak with her and make sure she understands it's urgency. Will you do that for me, James?"

The boy nodded, got up and then ran off in a way that looked like Viren threatened to curse him instead of asking nicely.

The interpreter boy was still down in his secret room. Down there, where he was holding the moonshadow assassin prisoner a few days ago and nobody but Claudia knew how to get down there. If he didn't tell Opeli about the stone-touch-combination, the boy would die and his daughter would find his body once she returned from her journey with Soren.

Viren was no stranger to murder. He murdered his entire life, either with magic or to do magic, but it was always with a purpose. Commander Gren's death would bring him no gain or advantage, except taking once again something very dear from General Amaya.

He shook his head, trying to chase away the thoughts of a friend dying in his arms, with nothing that he could do but watch as life passed from her eyes.

 _Stop it,_ he thought. _He avenger her. It's over. You don't need to blame yourself. It's done. Over._

"Why are you sending for the cleric?", a voice beamed from almost withing his head, ripping him from his spiraling thoughts. It was so close and so loud that he thought, it could rip his right eardrum apart.

"There is something I need to right."

"Do you regret something we did?", the worm, _no_ _,_ Aaravos asked and he was almost tempted to say yes. He was tempted to admit, that he wanted nothing more than to undo everything and go back to the day Harrow was killed. He wanted to go back and defend his friend's life with his own. He wanted to stay next to him, no matter which insults his king would throw at him.

Harrow's life was more important than his. It always has been and he could scold himself for not acting like it back then, when it still mattered.

But he didn't say it. Harrow was dead and there was no way he could go back. So why should he bother to wish for something impossible? He was no child.

"No", he said then, after a pause. "I do not regret a single thing."

And that was the truth, in its own way.

Opeli came down to the dungeons when the sun shone bright and high in the blue sky. When Viren looked to her, after listening to the approaching clacks of her boots, her eyes were full of hate and possibly disgust. It stung a little because they didn't use to be like this, but it was too long ago to think about it.

"You send for me?", she asked and her voice was as calculating as always; always as in always around him.

"Yes I did," he said, rising from his wooden bench. He took the few steps to the rods but still kept his respectful distance from her.

"Talk. And I swear if you waste my time, I-"

"It's about Commander Gren."

She stopped, looking at him with slightly furrowed brows. Her face was so easy to read, at least to him. They both have been on the council for such a long time, they knew each other and their quirks too well.

"General Amaya's interpreter? What's with him?"

"He is," Viren took a deep breath and then looked directly into Opeli's eyes. "Locked up."

He watched closely as she eyed him confused at first, then angry before something dawned on her and she took the last step closer to the rods.

"Has this something to do with the tunnel behind your painting?"

"The painting of the child with the lambs, yes. Did you go down there?", his voice was persistent but also worried. If one didn't pay attention, one could easily get lost in the tunnels under the castle.

"Not myself, no. I send some guards down there but they didn't find anything."

She sounded hesitant like she wasn't sure that what she said equalled the truth.

"I," Viren started but then stopped for a second. Suddenly there was a little bit of doubt nesting down in his mind. Was it really a good idea to tell Opeli about his studies? His rooms in the catacombs were filled with supplies and scriptures that she would maybe burn just to anger him. He went through that once and it was... annoying, to say the least. Then again, there was no other choice but to spill the truth to her.

If he wanted to save the annoying, ever happy redhead, he must talk to Opeli.

"You know the desk in my room, right?", he asked and he saw, how she shortly looked at him but her eyes weren't there, like she was remembering something, reliving a memory.

She coughed a little, swallowing, then a nod.

"In the top right drawer, there is a map of the catacombs, the tunnels behind my painting. On it, there is a purple cross at the end of one of the tunnels. Go there and follow the described stone push pattern on the back of the scroll. A staircase should open downwards and there you'll find Commander Gren."

He stopped, hesitating if he should say anything else.

Then: "He'll tell you everything that happened. So you don't have to talk to me."

Opeli looked at him and for a solid few seconds, Viren can't pinpoint her emotions. It unsettled him more than he'd want to admit.

"Don't ask why, please."

Why - Why he told her this, why he locked Gren up, why the commander was there, why he did the things he did, why did it end this way. Viren wasn't sure what he meant but Opeli seemed to understand him nonetheless.

"I wasn't going to. I stopped trying to figure you out a long time ago, Viren."

"Strange," he said and then a small laugh bubbled up his throat. He couldn't stop it. "You once were the only one who could."

"That was a long time ago."

"It really seems so, doesn't it?", he murmurs and Opeli's eyes grew soft for a split second.

"Goodbye, Viren", she said then and it sounded like she meant it.

It sounded like they weren't going to see each other any time soon, any time _ever_. It sounded like she'd make sure he rots down here until the flesh falls from his bones and the rats would have a glorious meal, before having to see him again.

It sounded like she'd never come to visit him again, not even to mock him or tell him that she was right from the very start.

She didn't stop, not even for a second, as she leaves him behind in his cell, who seemed now a little colder than before.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Twitter and Instagram! There I usually rant about this project and give you small updates!
> 
> hcllstrcms on insta and claudiaskasef on twitter!


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